


Watching her back.

by MinnieTheMoocherDA



Series: Clone wars drabbles [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Blyla, Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 04:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15766215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinnieTheMoocherDA/pseuds/MinnieTheMoocherDA
Summary: Instances of Bly watching Aayla’s back over the years.





	Watching her back.

**Author's Note:**

> I have been dragged in Blyla hell and I can’t get out.

The first part of her he ever saw was her back. 

It was his first time off Kamino and he, along with the other eldest brothers, had been sent to Couruscant to meet the Jedi generals they'd be serving under. 

He wasnt sure what he felt as they were ushered into the Jedi war room. 

Nervous? Maybe. 

Anticipation? Yes. 

The ghostly knowledge that what he was about to experience would be worse than any of the trailing they’d had on Kanino? Definitely. 

But it would be worth it. He thought. For the Republic to bring order to ththe galaxy. 

A Republic that doesn’t even view you as a person a voice whispered at the back of his head. He banished the traitorous thoughts from his mind and kept his face carefully blank as entered the room. 

Despite her facing away from him, his eyes were drawn to her almost immediately. The first thing that he noticed about her was that she was so _blue. _On Kamino the only colour was a sterile, lifeless white. He tried not to stare, but it was hard not to look at her skin that was practically a star amongst a dead sea of empty colour.__

____

__

Realising that they had entered, she suddenly turned around and he immediately looked anywhere but at her, afraid that she would notice that he’d been staring. By the slightly intrigued look she sent his way, he unfortunately guessed that she had. 

He avoided her gaze as the Kaminoan who had accompanied them introduced his brothers to their generals. He watched as his eldest brothers got assigned to a kind looking ginger haired human and a younger looking one with an imposingly tall figure. As his brothers were sent off one by one he silently hoped that they wouldn’t assign him to her. 

“Commander CC-5052.” The Kaminoan anouced. Dutifully he stepped forward. “You will be asigned under Jedi Master Secura’s command.” 

But apparently fate was against him, as the blue skinned woman headed towards him at the call of Master Secura.

“Aayla Secura.” She said. Her voice was unlike anything he’d ever heard before either, with a fluidity and Ruthin that was unlike the soulless voices of the Kaminoan or the rough sound of his brothers. “And what is your name?”

“Commander CC-5052 sir.”

Her brows frowned slightly at his response and his heart quickened as he tried to figure out what he’d done wrong. 

“I asked for your name Commander, not your number.” She spoke. 

He froze. The Kaminoans has never given them any names. They told them that it encouraged individuality which would endanger the Republic as they were supposed to work together as a unit. However, that hadn’t stopped some of his brothers giving themselves names in secret. He wondered if this was some sort of test to determine their loyalty. 

“Commander CC-5052.” He repeated, trying to stand even straighter. He was surprised when her frown only deepened at his response. 

“You are a sentient being. And all beings have a right to a name.” She told him, the kindness in her eyes only strengthened by their firmness. “I will not treat you any less.”

Unsure of what to make of her statement, he found his eyes searching the room for answers. His gaze fell upon some of his brothers who had similar confused expressions on their faces. He looked back to Aayla to find that her eyes had softened. 

“If you do not have a name then I can give you one if you would like?” She offered. 

“No! I... I do have a name sir. It’s just... the Kaminoans discouraged us from having them.” He continued quickly as her expression hardened at his words. “My brothers call me Bly.”

Her expression softened once again, as she held out her hand. 

“I am honoured to fight by your side Commander Bly.” 

He took he had in his own to receive a strong, firm handshake. For the first time since he’d left Kamino a small smile appeared on Bly’s face. He had a feeling he was going to like serving under her. 

“Likewise General Secura.” 

————————————————

He watched her back on their first mission. 

They had been sent to attack a separatist base located on a jungle covered moon. He ran loyally by her side as they lead their men in to their first battle. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her slice through the incoming droids with her lightsaber as though they were flimsi, while he blasted any of the one she had missed. 

Suddenly a droid dropped from one of the trees. But before it could attack his General, Bly had aimed a shot straight through its centre, causing it to instantly shut down. 

He quickly glanced at the General to check she was alright to find her already looking at him. He felt something pass through them as she gave him a small nod of thanks before continuing through the battle. 

He gave his head a sharp shake to disperse the feeling. It must have been a Jedi thing, he thought before following her back into the fray.

 

————————————————

He saw her the blue of her back disappear into the depth of the forest away from the camp. 

Satisfied that all his brothers were settled for the night, he decided to follow her, unsure of what he would find.

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t to find her leant agaist a tree with her figure facing away from him and her posture slumped forward. It was a startling contrast to the companding stance she usually displayed. 

“General Secura?” He asked, unsure of what else to do. At the sound of his voice she turned to face him to reveal that her large brown eyes were glazed with unshed tears. 

“I’m sorry.” She said, trying to keep her voice steady as she looked away in shame. “I... I don’t want them to see me like this. We... we lost a lot of men today and...”

“I know.” Bly sighed because he did. He knew how it hurt to be the pillar of strength the men needed to see him as whilst inside he was braking. “We lost Zell and Greenie and Cog and Drew...” 

He voice cracked as he failed to hold back tears and he felt his posture melt out of controlled stance with every name. “And Xander and Wire-“

“And Shadow and Tapper.” Aayla finished, her tone as heavy as his. Instinctively he reached out to place a comforting hand in her shoulder. But was saddened and confused when she turned away from his gesture. 

“This is why the Council discourage attachment.” She continued, avoiding his gaze as she tryied to control the brokenness inside her. “Because it makes it harder for one to focus on doing what is right.”

Knowing the pain she was feeling and hating that she was trying to convince herself to think like that, he spoke. 

“If I may speak freely General, but mourning the loss of your men isn’t about attachment. It’s caring about people because you value their lives.” 

He couldn’t read the expression that came across her face at his words. He felt his heart quicken with anxiety as she counties to stare at him for a long time. 

“I’m sorry. I overstepped, I-“

“No. No you didn’t.” Aayla reassured him, her tone firm. “And you were right. As a Jedi it is my duty to be compassionate, and it is an honour to show compassion to these men who have sacrificed so much for the good of others.”

“General, if you ever need...”

He trailed off, not needing to explain what he was taking about. The gentle smile she sent him in return spread a warmth inside him. 

“Likewise.” 

They started to head Back to camp when she suddenly and turned to lock him with a kind yet hard look. 

“And Bly, you always have permission to speak freely.” 

————————————————

As before he continued to protect her back. 

But now instead of just doing so out of his duty to his general and the victory of the Republic, he did it because he wanted to. 

Because he respected her. 

Because she deserved to be protected. 

Because she was his friend.

————————————————

He gently placed a bacta pad to the lower left of her back. He had kept telling her to wear some armour or st least something that didn’t leave parts of her body exposed. But she said that she found it too restrictive and too hot with her twi-lek biology. Bly wasn’t the type to say I told you so. 

They were sitting in one of the pods that the Lurmen had designated as a healing centre. General Skywalker was lying passed out next to them, having collapsed from his earlier injuries as soon as the battle was over. The man really shouldn’t have been fighting in his condition, but Bly unfortunately knew all to well how pointless it was to try to tell a Jedi to not fight when severely injured. And from what’s he’d heard, Skywalker was more reckless than most. He was worried Rex’s blonde hair would turn white from stress by the time the war was over. 

For the first time since they’d sat down, he turned his attention off Aayla when Skywalker’s young padawan entered the pod. 

“Admiral Yularen has finished talking to Chief Tee Watt Ka and inprisoning the Seperatists. He said we should get on the Republic cruiser so we can head back to Coruscant and tell the council what happened.” Ahsoka told them. 

Aayla had tried to stand up at her words but the action had re-opened her wound causing a flash of pain to cross her face and her balance to fail. Bly quickly placed a hand on her covered arm to steady her. 

“With all due respect General, I don’t think you should be moving anywhere.” He suggested.

She sent him an all too familiar stubborn look that she always used when he tried to tell her that doing anything whilst injured was a bad idea. 

He sighed. _Stupid, selfless, self distractive Jedi. ___

____

____

“At least let me help walk to the ship sir.”

The General looked like she was about to argue again when Padawan Tano interrupted her. 

“You should probably listen to him Master. It would be a shame if you were to set a bad example for a young impressionable padawan like myself to not take care of one’s self properly when injured.” Ahsoka said with a sly smirk that reminded Bly too much of her master. 

Aayla was about to retort to the girl’s comments when another wince if pain cut her off. Bly held into her arm even tighter. 

“General...” He urged, the worry now obvious in his voice. 

“Very well.” Aayla sighed, reigning herself to be looked after. “Commander Bly, if you would be so kind as to escort me to the ship.”

“Of course General.” He said, a relived smile gracing his lips. 

They walked towards the cruiser, her sleeved arm around his shoulders and his hand gently holding the back bad to her back as he helped her to stay upright. Along the way, Bly kept sneaking glances down at her to check she was alright. However, one of these times he found her brown eyes staring back up at him with a peculiar expression on her face. 

“I sense that you are distressed Commander.” 

For yet another time that day Bly let out a long suffering sigh. “I’m sorry General, I’m just worried about you. I wish you would accept help when you are injured.”

“As a Jedi, it is my duty to help those in need. Not to be a burden to others.” She stated calmly in a voice that sounded rehearsed, as though these words had been drilled into her like birth. Not that different to him and his brothers, he thought.

But still, Bly couldn’t help but himself cursing the unhealthy Jedi teachings. He pushed his anger aside so that he could look down at his General with a sad, caring gaze. 

“You can’t help if you’re dead General. You need to take care of yourself, as well as others.” 

“That is not the Jedi way.” She told him, her voice firm. 

“Yeah? Well it’s my way. So please let me help the next time you’re injured.” He didn’t mean to sound as pleasing as he did but he couldn’t help the needing tone as he finished speaking. 

Aayla looked up at him once again with that peculiar expression. 

“I will. I do not wish to be the cause of any of your distress. As I said, I do not want to be a burden.”

Bly internally groaned at her circle of logic. 

_Damn stupid, selfless, self destructive Jedi. ___

____

____

————————————————

He’d been so busy watching her back that he’d forgotten to watch his own. 

Their cruiser had been over run with clankers, leaving him and Aayla to protect the men as they headed for the escape pods. The corridor they were defending was being hit with a seemingly never ending tidal wave of droids. Bly ran just behind the General, firing at the droids while she deflected their blasts back at them with her lightsaber. They were slowly being pushed back down the corridor, but at least none of the clankers had managed to pass them so the men should be safe. 

Just as they were being forced to retreat round one of the bends, Aayla suddenly turned around to face him, her eyes wide with what Bly had come to recognise as a Jedi premonition. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she had rammed her lightsaber into the wall next to them and grabbed his hand, as something crashed into the corridor behind them. The corridor instantly become a vortex of wind and Bly was worried he had crushed Aayla’s hand as he held on for his life while the droids were sucked out of the corridor and into the vacuum of space. He looked away from the breach to see Aayla holding onto her lightsaber and him with equal determination. He didn’t doubt that she would be strong enough to hold to both of them. 

But they still had to seal the breach if there would be anyway for them to survive this. It was hard to see with the diroientation of being thrown around like a leaf in a thunderstorm and droids nearly crashing into him as they flew past him, however eventually, he noticed a door panel thurther down the corridor that should have access to a set of blast doors they could close to stop them from being ejected into outer space. 

He knew the General wouldn’t be able to hear him over the roar of the air and the screaming clankers, so instead he resorted to pointing his blaster towards the panel and thinking as loud as he could about his plan. A short while later he felt a new presence in his mind. The sensation was odd but not unwelcome. 

_Are you sure about this plan Commander? _Aayla’s voice whispered in his mind.__

____

____

_Yes. _He thought back. _Let me go so that I can reach the access panel.___

_____ _

_____ _

_Or I could unsheathe my lightsaber then I can go with you so we can fix the breach together. _Aayla argued.__

____

____

Bly internally sighed before he could remember that the General could hear him do it. 

_Sir, as a Jedi your life is more valuable then mine. If I am to die then you could use your lightsaber or force to get yourself to someplace safe. I can not alow you to risk your life when only the risk of mine is necessary _.__

____

____

He was surprised when he heard a sigh of exasperation from the General that was very familiar to his own. 

_I know that you do not agree with all of my teachings as a Jedi Bly, but one of the most important lessons we are taught is that no one life is ever more valuable then another. That in the eyes of the force we are all equal. Before my Master found me, I lived in the poorest part of Ryloth. I grew up believing that as a twi’lek and as a female I would always be worthless then every other being the galaxy. It was only when I joined the Jedi order that I came to understand that every life is equal. I hope that one day you will understand this too. ___

____

____

Bly’d mind faltered as he took in her words. The first thought that came in to his head was that he wanted to punch every being who had ever been insane enough to think that his General was worthless. The second was that he would be the biggest hypocrite in the galaxy if he didn’t believe her opinions on the value of life and that for once the Jedi values seemed to be positive and not self destructing. 

_Ok General. Let’s go through with your plan. ___

____

____

He felt the relief that washed over her mind before he cut their convection off. It was strange that he found himself immediately missing her presence. 

A few moments later he felt himself being dragged towards the swirling vortex of space as Aayla shut off her lightsaber, although her grip on his hand tightly remained. It was Bly’s only point of focus as they were thrown around the ship. Somehow he managed to angle himself so that they were flung towards the panel. Once they were near, Aayla ignited her saber again and stabbed it straight threw the wall. The blade made a harsh screeching sound as it cut a scar out of the wall whilr it struggled to hold them in place against the pull of the hole. Eventually they came to stop which either though the force or dumb luck made the access panel positioned right next to Bly. Not wasting any time, he quickly typed in the codes to seal the blast doors with his free hand. As soon as he did, the doors closed and the vortex stopped. Bly landed clumsily but on his feet next to Aayla as soon as the gravity returned who’s landing was infinitely more graceful than his. 

He looked up at his General who he could tell knew the relived smile on her face was the same as his albeit hidden beneath his helmet. 

“We... we did it. We survived.” He breathed. 

_Yes. We did. _Bly didn’t realise at first that her smile hadn’t moved, that the words she’d said had been in his head. It had felt so natural he hadn’t even noticed.__

____

____

The moment was broken however when a new Shiny by the name of Campbell, came speeding around the corner towards them. 

“General! Commander! The last escape pod is being prepared and-“ 

Campbell choked on his own words as he noticed something between the pair. Bly looked down in a panic, worried that a droid had managed to creep up on them. His own thoughts mirrors Campbell’s when he realised that the thing that had shocked the trooper were that he and Aayla were still tightly holding hands. He immediately let her go, relived that his helmet could hide his embarrassed blush. 

“What was your message about the escape pods Captain?” Bly asked, proud at how steady his voice sounded. 

“Err what?” The trooper said artfully before he suddenly regained his composure. “Oh yeah the escape pods! There’s only one left and you and the general are the only ones left onboard sir. You need to head over to them now.” 

“Lead the way Captain.” Aayla said, her voice a master of calm. 

The pair never spoke of the incident again. 

————————————————

Bly walked up quietly behind her. Despite the bright blue of he skin, she somehow managed to blend in with the surrounding desert as though she was apart of it. Bly filed it as another ‘Jedi thing’. She was so still he was worried for a moment if she was even breathing. She was so still a small creature had crawled on to her lap and ankther up so that it was sat on her lekku. 

Sometimes he would join her. He found it helped to mentally prepare himself for whatever battle they were fated to have that day or to calm him down after a particularly heavy loss. And other times, just seeing her so calm and one with the force was enough.

He coughed lightly. 

“General, we need to plan our attack on the capital.”

She turned around slowly as though waking up from a dream. The creature in her lap scarperred as soon as she started to move but the other one stayed firmly on her head. He found it hard to conceal his laughter as she walked over to him, seemingly unaware of the creature. 

“Establishing relations with the locals are we general?” He asked with a straight face, pointing to her lekku. 

However he was unable to suppress a smile at the surprise on her face when she looked up to find heels staring at a pair of blinking, beady eyes.

Quickly, she wiped the expression from her face and replaced it with one of blank emotionlessness, but the spark of humour still remained in her eyes. 

“Yes.” She said seriously. “Did you not read it in yesterday’s briefing?”

“No sir. I must have missed it.” He smirked. 

“Well then, we must wake up the men to tell them we have completed this vital part of our mission.” She allowed a mischievous smile to grace her lips as she walked past him back to camp. 

“Yes sir.” He followed. 

The confused expressions from his vode at the creature and the General’s nonchalant reaction to it was priceless. 

————————————————

Bly watched the slight shaking of Aayla’s shoulders as she giggled at something the human next to her had said. 

It was a relatively simple mission all things considered. Aayla was to go undercover at a bar to revive information of an informant whilst Bly kept an eye on her in case there was any trouble. They hadn’t had any civilian clothes in them. Why would they? So they’d had to make do with Bly wearing his blacks underneath a large, hooded poncho, whilst Aayla had borrowed a set of blacks from Skinny (who’s name needed no explanation), and had cut a large ‘V’ out of the front to make her appear more like a stereotypical twi-lek you would find at a seedy bar like this. Bly had to keep himself from punching everyone in this bantha heap who made an unsavoury comment about his General. Partly because he didn’t want to disrupt the mission but also because he knew the General could handle herself. 

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard another high pitchesd giggle escape from Aayla’s mouth as she pretended to be infatuated with their informant. The giggle was fake of course. Bly could recognise the real heart felt laugh of his General anywhere. But still, he couldn’t help the sudden unexpected surge of anger as she smiled and rested her head on their informant’s shoulder who, in Bly’s professional opinion, thought was enjoying the charade a bit too much. 

“Get ahold of yourself.” He muttered before taking a large sip of his beer that had definitely been watered down. He told himself he was just being over protective, like all clones were with their Generals. But he knew deep down that this was different. 

This wasn’t a protective anger over his General putting herself in another potentially dangerous situation. It was something more then that. More like... jealousy. 

The realisation startled him. He knew what it was like to feel jealous, at the younger cadets who didn’t have the sheer level of responsibility he had or civilians who had the freedom to chose their own paths in life even in a galaxy savaged by war. But he’d never felt jealous about General Secura before. 

It must be over their informant being able to spend time with his friend out of uniform, he told himself as he felt another unexpected surge of anger when Aayla kissed the man goodbye after pocketing the data he had handed over underneath her head wrapping. 

Once she spotted him, Aayla’s face broke out into a smile that instantly turned Bly’a anger into indescribable warmth. She started to head towards him when a large male Pantoran blocked he way. 

“Who was that you were sitting with love?” The man said. His back was turned away from Bly but he could easily hear the leering grin on his face. 

“Just an old friend.” Aayla answered with a wide smile that contrasted to the hardened shine of her eyes. Sensing trouble, Bly tried to appear calm as he started to walk over to the pair. 

“Really?” The Pantoran said and Bly was hating the tone of his voice more and more every moment. “Do you think I could be an old friend too?” 

As he spoke, he reached out with one hand towards the open ‘V’ of Aayla’s blacks but before he could touch anything, in the time it took Bly to reach for his blaster, Aayla already had him thrown across the cantina.

The cantina watched in stunned silence as Aayla calmly walked over to Bly, who only felt pride at the strength of his friend.

“Let’s get out of here.” She whispered once she reached him. 

“Yes sir.” He said, hating the place as much as she had. As he followed her out, he accidentally locked eyes with one of the bar customers who was giving Bly a jealous look that must have been similar to the ones he had been sending to General Secura. He sent him a smug smile in return because he was the one who was lucky enough to be friends with someone as amazing as Aayla. 

————————————————

_Why the hells hadnt he knocked? ___

____

____

The question kept repeating in his mind as he walked quickly away from the general’s tent in shame. 

A few minutes prior, he’d headed over to the tent with the boys servant report of the area. He didn’t know why he hadn’t knocked. He usually did, but for whatever reason this time he forgot.

His eyes were focused on the data in front of him as he pushed apart the doors.

“General Secura, I have the reports on-“ 

His voice choked off as he looked at her. He couldn’t help but stare at her bare expense of her back. Although her back was turned to him but it was clear that she wasn’t wearing any slotted on the upper part of her body. Her skin was slightly lighter in the area that was usually covered by her top and was speckled with small scars curtesy of her years as a Jedi. And as she turned around around at the sound of his voice he spotted a small mole underneath the curve of her-

“Is everything alright?” Aayla asked. The worry evident in her voice, distracted him from his thoughts. Bly wasn’t sure if her worry was because of his reaction or why he’d been in her room in the first place. 

“I... Yes.” He said pointedly turning his gaze to anywhere but at her. “I have the err reports sir.”

He uncharacteristicly disloved into stammers as he tried to back out of the tent. “It’s nothing important... I’ll just...”

He nearly tripped over his own feel in his hurry to leave. He walked quickly past a few confused brothers, trying to to buy as much distance between him and the General as possible. So he cursed when he heard her voice calling after him. 

“Bly! Bly stop!” 

His feet haulted of their own accord, naturally obeying her orders. Reluctantly, he turned around to find her rushing after him, her top half thankfully clothed. 

“I’m Sorry General!” Bly exclaimed, before she could say anything else. Although he still couldn’t look her in the eye. “I didn’t.. I wasn’t... I’ll just.”

Calm yourself Bly. It’s alright. It was an accident. She told him kindly, her voice a calmly present in his mind. Besides, my people do not have the same issues as humans do about the display of skin. Which has unfortunately lead to certain presumptions about my species.

Bly was unfortunately aware of the last part as he still had restrain himself from punching those in the face that insulted his General. Still, her kind words had calmed him down and he was relieved that she wasn’t mad although that didn’t stop him from feeling embarrassed. 

“Perhaps we could go back to my tent and look over those reports.” Aayla suggested to show that she wasn’t angry. 

Bly would rather have found a large hole to burry himself in, but instead he followed her back to her tent, ignoring the strange looks his brothers were still giving him. 

————————————————

The next day it, Bly found it hard not to stare at the expense of her back now that he knew what lay beneath her thin top. 

He had always known Aayla was attractive. It was hard not to with the often less than appropriate responses she would get from locals whilst they were on missions. Something that would stop very quickly with one flash of her lightsaber or the cock of her men’s guns. 

But he hadn’t really known it until now, the events of last night still burned into his mind. 

He was mezmorises by the elegant sway of her hips. The way she moved with elegance of a dancer. His eyes trailed down the curve of her body that reminded him of the crest of a wave until they reached the leather belt wrapped around her hips. The belt secured her brown tightly that did nothing but enhance the size of her-

_Nope. _Bly thought, quickly shutting down that line of thinking and forcing himself to look away. A burst of shame flampered in his head. Not only was that an inappropriate thought about his general, it was also disrespectful about his friend.__

____

____

So every time his mind started to wonder back to that direction he forced himself to think of what was hidden underneath Chancellor Palpatine’s robes instead. 

————————————————

He watched th steady rise and fall of her back as she lay barely inches away from him. There hadn’t been enough time or space to set up a proper camp so once again they’d had to settle for collapsing at the side of an open road. 

He had also by her side often enough to recognise that she wasn’t asleep. Most likely kept awake by the same thoughts that plagued his mind. 

It had been another bad day today. The mission had been an success but they’d lost almost half their men. 

All he wanted was to hold her close. To hold someone who knew the guilt and grief and pain he was going through. To hold his best friend. 

Slowly he reached out his hand. He didn’t even have to straighten his elbow before he touched her shoulder. She froze at his touch and Bly w. Gently, he pulled her towards him. He kept waiting for her to push away. But she never did. Eventually her back touched his chest. The first thing that registered about her was the warmth radiating from her twi-lek body that was so unlike the skin of his brothers. 

He felt her hand reach up to cover his own where it was still placed on her shoulder. She then tugged it down until his arm was draped across her stomach. Her fingers then laced through his, linking them together. As she curled up, she brought his hand to her heart. Natuartly he curled his body around hers to find his face pressed against her neck. Their bodies slotted perfectly together as though they were adjacent peoces in a puzzle. 

His brothers slept curled up together in plies all the time but this... this was different. This was something he had never experienced before. And was probably more dangerous then any battlefield he’d ever lived through. 

Bly knew they were walking a tight line. He wanted her to turn around so that her brown eyes could tell him what she was thinking. But he knew that she couldn’t, because that would mean acknowledging whatever it was that was happening between them. 

So he settled for holding her as close as he could until the sun came up. 

————————————————

Their unit had joined with General Kenobi and Cody’s to destroy a Seperatist droids factory when General Grevious had unexpectedly shown up. A small group of troopers under General Secura’s command, including Bly had separated from the others to keep the Seperatist leader distracted whilst Lenovo’s team destroyed the factory. 

Aayla has been fighting Grevius head on while Bly and the troopers took care of the droids around them. Bly kept an eye on them out of the corner of his eye. Aayla’s ability with a lightsaber has always been inkressive but seeing her go up against another force user was nothing short of awe inspiring. The battle was like an intricate dance with each member fighting for dominance with Aayla clearly on top. Until everything went wrong. Part of the ceiling of the factory must have become danger in the fight and a large portion of it suddenly fell from the sky directly towards a group of brothers. Before Bly could even call kit a warning Aayla had reached out through the force and pushed it in the direction of some nearby droids instead. Unfortunately her actions also gave Grevious the opportunity he needed. As soon as she turned away he sliced one of his stolen lightsaber’s along her back. 

“AAYLA!” Bly cried.

Before he could even comprehend what he was doing, he found himself running towards her unmoving body. There was smoke simmering from the sclice up her back. For one painful moment he thought she might be dead until he noticed her take a shallow breathe. Once he reached her, he dropped to his knees by her side. 

“Aayla...” He said, this time his voice barely above a whisper. He wanted to reach down and cradle her body but the medical training that had been ingrained into his DNA remained him that doing so would only aggravate her injuries. So he instead he picked up her fallen lightsaber and crouched over her body, willing to do anything to protect her from General Grevious. 

The separatist leader let out a wheezing grind at his actions that mimicked a laugh. 

“You think you can fight me clone?”  
He spat. 

“I’ll do whatever needs to be done to save her.” Bly told him with venhamce. 

The laughter in Grevious‘ eyes was lost at his statement and replaced with one of disgust. He raised one of his lightsabers to strike Bly when his arm was blasted off by a rocket launcher. 

“That’s for hurting our General!” 

Bly turned around to see Campbell with a rocket launcher on his shoulder, surrounded by a small army of brothers. Bly had never felt so proud. Grevius however clearly felt differently judging by his angry snarl.

But before he could retaliate Kenobi and Cody burst into the room, guns and lightsabers blazing. Knowing he was outmatched, Grevious ran like the cowards he was. Kenobi chased after him but Cody headed towards Bly instead. 

“We’ve covered the factory with detonates. We need to get out out of here now!” 

Bly nodded and gave the orders to his brothers to evacuate over the comms. He then pocketed her lightsaber and placed his arms under Aayla’s shoulders and legs to effectively carry her to safety. For the first time since he’d known her she felt vaulnerable, unconctiius to the galaxy in his arms. 

————————————————

 

It had been a week since her battle with Grievius and while the bacta had helped heal her injuries, she still hadn’t woken from her coma. The 327th had been forced to remain on Coruscant whilst they waited for her to recover but none of them could relax as they were far too worried about their General, least of all Bly who had spent nearly every waking moment in the med-bay waiting for Aayla to wake up. His worry had gotten so bad that Campbell had told Cody of his condition and despite his protests had dragged him along to 79 to get him to drink away his worries. 

He appreciated his brothers’ concern but he didn’t appreciate the constant banging in his head the next day. And their interference wasn’t going to stop them from seeing his General. 

He walked into the med-bay to the sight of her body float like a dead weight in the light blue bacta. The word of dead blaring like a klaxon in his head. He shook his head to try and rid him of the thought but the action just made his head pound harder. 

Bly dragged himself to the other side of the tank so that he could see Aayla’s face. It was almost unnatural to see her so defenceless like this. 

If he wasn’t still partially inhiberated from last night, he might not have been bold enough to lean forwards so that his head was resting against the tank. He closed his eyes once his forehead touched the cool surface.

_Aayla _he begged with his mind, despite knowing she couldn’t hear him. _Please. _____

_____ _

_____ _

Suddenly he felt a warmth presence tugging gently at the back of his mind. 

_Bly. ___

____

____

He opened his eyes to see Aayla’s brown ones staring back at him. 

Bly backed away in shock, nearly ripping over his own feet, before his soldiering insincts took over. 

“Send for help.” He ordered a medical droid that immediacy obeying his commanding tone, his eyes never leaving Aayla’s. She seemed remarkably calm fro someone submerged in bacta.

“Sir.” A small droid said floating to his side. “Now that the patient is awake it is precedent that she be removed from the mediavl tank as soon as possible.” 

“Then get her out now!” 

“Right away sir.”

Their eyes stayed locked as the liquid was drained from around her. Once it was gone Aayla sank to her knees, her legs too weak to support herself. As soon as the droids opened the tank Bly walked in, not caring about procedure or protocol. 

_Aayla _he thought, her name encompassing everything. He knelt by her side and she didn’t hesitant to rest her upper body against his chest in a mixture of exhaustion and comfort.__

____

____

_Bly. _She whispered in the back of his mind. Her presence was warm and comforting. _I knew it was you. I kept feeling your presence but until now it was like their was a barrier between us that I couldn’t brake through. I’m sorry I couldn’t wake up sooner. I could feel your worry and- _____

_____ _

_____ _

_It’s alright. _He reassured her. _You’re awake now. And that’s all that mattered. _____

_____ _

_____ _

She smiled up at him and Bly couldn’t help but smile down at her in return. They stayed lost in each others presence, until one of the droids came back over to them. 

“Sir. We need to move the patient to a bed to better asses her condition.”

In response, Bly carefully placed his arms under Aayla’s shoulders and legs to carry her to the bed. He was grateful that for once she didn’t complain about needing assistance. 

However as soon as he’d put her down, the doors opened to reveal a yellow skinned Jedi doctor. 

“I am grateful to you Commander, for alerting us if Master Secura’s awakening.” The doctor said with an air of professionalism. “However I must now ask you to leave so that I may examine my patient.” 

Bly was nanoseconds away from telling the doctor that there was no way in hells that he was going anywhere, when he felt that same reassuring presence at the back of his mind. 

_Calm yourself Bly _. Aayla spoke. _Do not worry about me. I will be fine. I promise that we will have time to talk as soon as I have been released _____

_____ _

_____ _

Bly didn’t want to leave her side but he knew that it was for the best. 

“Get well soon Aay- General.” He managed to catch his words just in time to sound professional in front of the doctor. 

“Thank you Bly.” Aayla said, either not afraid of sounding attached in front of the doctor or was still drowsy from the affect of the bacta to think about what’s she was saying. 

Bly didn’t miss the suspicios look the doctor cast between them as he left. 

———————————————-

Bly watched from the back of the room as Aayla defended herself from the Jedi council. After spending so long protecting each other on the battle field, Bly wanted nothing more than to defend her from the council. But he knew found so would only make matters worse so reluctantly he kept his mouth shut. 

“Doctor Nema informed us that you displayed signs of attatchnnet towards your Commander.” Mace Windu said in his usual monotone voice. 

“I called Commander Bly by his name.” Aayla said calmly as thought the Jedi wasn’t causing her of being along on of the most sacred laws of their beliefs.

“You also allowed him to carry you.” Master Kenobi continued. Bly wasn’t sure how Kenobi was in any potion to criticise Aayla from what Cody and Rex told him about the knight’s relationship with the Duchess of Mandelore or his padawan’s connection to Senator Amidala. 

“I was injured. I was to weak to walk to it in my own.”

At her words, the small green frame of Master Yoda had leant forward with an inquisitive look.

“Assure us can you, that attached you are not?” 

“Yes.” Aayla spoke, her tone as firm and indestructible as steel. “Commander Bly and I have served together since the start of the war. He is one of the bravest and most noble beings that I have ever met and I would trust him with my life. But he is my comrade. Nothing more.“

Bly couldn’t help but feel his heart sink at those last words. Had everything that had passed between him been in his head? Or was she just pretending in front of the council? 

He was so wrapped in his own thoughts he missed the rest of the debate until Aayla was dismissed with reluctant approval from the council. 

She walked over to him with a blank expression that didn’t belong in her face. 

Bly opened his mouth to speak when she interrupted him.

“Our cruiser is ready for departure. It is president we head over to it as soon as possible.” She told him before walking lay him without another word. 

Confused and hurt, Bly followed her to an uncertain future. 

———————————————-

The ships first destination had been a space port in the mid-rim where it would remain docked for a few days before moving on the the outer rim. 

So Bly had taken the break in work to visit Aayla’s quarters. 

He knocked on her door and after a long silence she finally let him in. She moved to the side that he could stand into her relatively small room. 

He didn’t need to be a Jedi to sense the tension in the air. He closed the door behind him, knowing that the conversation thy were about to have want one to be over heard. 

“Did you mean what you said?” He asked trying to keep his voice level.

Aayla didn’t reply and instead waked to the other side of the room to lean against her storage unit to avoid his gaze. Although he couldn’t see her face, Bly could see the tensetion in her shoulders. 

“You are truly are one of the most remarkable beings I have ever met.” Aayla told him, avoiding answering the questions directly like a typical Jedi. 

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Bly pushed, walking over to her until he was standing directly behind her. She sighed, her shoulders sagging as though she had the wight of the galaxy on her shoulders. To see her look anything but in control was startling. A moment later, she slowly turned around until her sad brown eyes were looking directly into his.

“My entire life I’ve been told that attachments lead to the dark side. That giving into them will only lead to suffering. To betray my teachings that I live my life by is...”

Her voice trailed off and Bly suddenly felt guilty for pressing her to talk. It was hard enough for him to acknowledge his feelings for her, he couldn’t image what she was going through. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you. We can go back to way things were. I-“

He was cut off when her lips crashed into his own. Whatever response Bly had been expecting, it certainly hadn’t been that. But that didn’t stop him from kissing back with equal ferociousiry. 

Her arms wrapped around his head the same moment he wrapped his around her waist. They held each other as tight as they could, fighting to get closer to one another. Until they fell onto her bed and melted together into one beautiful entity. 

———————————————-

He followed closely behind her bright blue skin blended in to the large flowers that covered Felucia’s surface. 

He was confused when his comm told him he’d revived a holo-call directly from the Chancellor. Bly assumes that there must be something serious going on if the Palpatine was calling him personally.

He opened the message to the flickering image of Palpatine. Even in the grainy quiality of the hologram, Bly could tell that horrific burns had carved out deep crevasses into the man’s scarred face. And when he spoke, it was a gravely sneer that completely contested to the kind, grandfatherly tone he used in his senate addresses.

“Execute order 66.” 

Suddenly, Bly’s mind was invaded by an overwhelming force. 

KILL THE JEDI. KILL THE JEDI. KILL THE JEDI. 

And then Bly’s mind was consumed by a feral need. His blaster moved of its own accord as did all of his brothers’, their minds also overcome with want. 

Her eyes darted around at the sound of their blasters, looking anywhere but them, searching for an unseen enemy. 

But the enemy was them. 

Her men. 

Her friends. 

His brothers. 

_Him. ___

____

____

Their blasters burned empty red holes all over her body, until she was nothing but an unrecognisable shred of red and blue. 

The scene was ripped from Bly’s nightmares but he couldn’t stop himself from firing at what remained of Aayla’s back. He couldn’t hear his own thoughts over the voice in his head that was a perversion of the connection he and Aayla had.

_Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers... ___


End file.
